Broken Memory
by Peppermint Mocha
Summary: DISCONTINUED - I awoke with a start, and almost immediately tried to cling to the contents of my dream, my mind working furiously to not let the pieces slip away. I had become desperate now. Every night I had these dreams. Dreams about him… SoraxKairi
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright, so this is my first ****fic****and ****I'm**** really excited! I'm just going to than****k ****Crillie**** for inspiring this and giving me some cool ideas, along with ****Ceri**** for also making suggestions. I love you guys! **

**So, anyway, here it is! Enjoy!**

**Broken Memories:**

**Chapter I**

_"I'll come back to you, I promise!"_

_As I gazed into his deep blue eyes, though only for a few seconds, there was a silent understanding between us._

_We wouldn't be seeing each other again._

_Or…at least, not for a while._

_My hand was slipping from his, the only thing keeping us together…just for this moment. I desperately gripped the edges of his fingers, at last crying, "I know you will!"_

_We finally broke apart, the piece of land __that I stood trembling upon slowly drifting away from him__. Further and further…_

_And I couldn't help but feel__ that this was our last goodbye._

I awoke with a start, and almost immediately tried to cling to the contents of my dream, my mind working furiously to not let the pieces slip away. I had become desperate now. Every night I had these dreams. Dreams about him…

But who was he? I kept asking myself this, but still no answer would come. Every time that I would wake up from these dreams I couldn't remember his face, his voice…

And it hurt.

Sighing, I suddenly realized that my eyes were wet with tears. Brushing them away in frustration, I fell back upon my pillows, dragging the covers up over me again. I turned over and closed my eyes, though I knew that a calm sleep would be hopeless now…

And so for most of the night I lay awake, making out patterns and pictures in the texture of my ceiling, at last drifting off into an uneasy rest, my dreams haunted once again by the same boy.

--

"Kairi? Kairi! Are you even listening to me!?"

Selphie's voice pulled me back to reality; startled, I turned to look at her, an apologetic smile spreading across my lips. "Oh…sorry, Selphie. What were you saying?" I said and she gave an exasperated sigh.

We were walking home from school just as we did everyday together. It was almost summer break, and the day was hot and humid. We made our way down the sandy path, which was lined with lush greenery and palm trees. This area where we lived was slightly hilly, and over one end of the path you could see houses and the rest of the town below—our destination.

But this afternoon I found my mind wandering much more than usual. Even in my classes during the morning I had trouble paying attention, and therefore landed myself in two days worth of detention—though that's beside the point.

_But I just couldn't help it._

I had been thinking about him _all da__y_—whoever 'him' was.

"I was saying that we should do something tonight!" Selphie said in annoyance, and it was obvious that she must've said this more than just once, but I hadn't heard.

"Oh…" I said, distracted.

I could feel her piercing gaze, expecting an answer from me.

"Well?"

"Oh, I don't know…" I sighed, glancing sideways at her. She looked hurt and disappointed, so I quickly said, "Well, what kind of thing did you mean?"

"We could go to the mall!" Selphie said, her usual peppiness returning again. "Or, we could go to the movies…I heard there was a new one out, it looked really good…"

But the rest was lost, for I had soon drifted away from the conversation and back into my thoughts again. Selphie chattered away beside me about this and that, hardly even noticing that I was—once again—not paying the slightest attention.

If I somehow escaped these plans of hers tonight, I knew what I was going to do instead. I suddenly realized that this boy in my dreams…he used to be my friend. I just knew it. I had spent time with him along with…

_Riku._

A memory in the back of my mind suddenly broke free, and an image of the silver-haired boy swam through across my vision.

The three of us had played together on the other island… The others! Selphie, Tidus, Wakka…they must remember them, too! Oh, it was a glorious realization!

"Kairi!"

And for the second time I was startled back into the present by Selphie's voice, and turned to look at her. She was glaring at me, and made a noise of impatience. "What is your deal today?"

I fixed my schoolbag over my shoulder, and made as though to speak, but she was turning away from me.

"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow," she said coldly, the hurt expression lighting her face again.

I looked around in surprise, having hardly realized that we had reached the branch off of the main path that led to Selphie's house.

The brown-haired girl had begun walking down the road away from me, but I stood where I was.

"Wait…" I said quietly, and was surprised to see her step falter before she turned around to me again.

"What?" She asked impatiently, an edge to her voice.

"Do…do you remember—?" I began, but was cut off as there was the sound of footsteps behind us, along with a pair of loud voices.

"Oi, Kairi! Selphie!" One of them called—which I recognized as Wakka—before Selphie and I turned.

"Oh, hi guys!" Selphie said, raising her hand into the air and waving.

Tidus and Wakka approached us, both wearing bright grins, each with Blitzball gear in hand.

"You two ladies up for a game, ya?" Wakka asked, throwing the ball into the air before catching it again.

Selphie and I exchanged glances.

I smiled politely, but shook my head. "No, sorry, guys. But I have a lot of homework to get done."

Selphie led off from my thread and nodded vigorously. "Yeah, same here."

The two boys looked disappointed, and Tidus just shrugged. "Well, we'll be down at the other island if you change your minds."

They headed off down the road, passing me and disappearing up over the hill.

"…see you, Kairi."

I looked over at Selphie to see her retreating form, hurrying off towards her house.

Feeling discouraged, I sighed and started off on my own way for home. I hung my head, kicking up dirt and sand as I went. I would have the chance to ask them again, though, I was sure of it.

--

_May 10__—Dear Journal,_

_ I made some kind of break-through with the boy in my dreams today. Or…well, it kind of has to do with him. I decided to ask my parents—or well, the mayor and his wife. Dad and mom. But anyway__ I went into the kitchen and my mom was preparing dinner, and so I sat down, and said, "Mom, do you remember my friend Riku?"_

_She turned and smiled at me, "Oh, yes! I remember him. He was such a charming boy."_

_I looked at her in surprise__, feeling a kind of relief that I wasn't just making up Riku's existence, and he was some figment of my imagination or something. "You do? Do you…remember what happened to him?"_

_"No, I don't…" She said slowly, looking troubled before pausing again. __She th__ought for a moment, and I waited__, my breath held. She wore a strange expression, and I frowned._

_"What's wrong?" I asked, and she just shook her head._

_"Strange…for some rea__son I remember another boy, too, though I can't picture him at all.__"_

_My mouth fell open in amazement__, and I just stared at her._

_So he really was real, after all._

_ Kairi_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: rolls around**

**Broken Memory:**

**Chapter II**

_I climbed out of my boat and up onto the dock, squinting against__ the bright early morning sun. I knew that he would be here… Sure enough, as I made my way across the sand, glancing in all directions, I spotted him lying there on the ground a little ways away. Grinning to myself I hurried forwards, slipping in the sand. I stopped, standing behind his head, and looking down at him I realized he was asleep._

_Ha, what a perfect opportunity!_

_His eyes slowly opened, his deep oceanic orbs blinking against the sun. He slowly sat up, giving a great yawn before falling back onto the sand again._

_"Whoa!"_

_I was kneeling over him, and he bolted upright again in surprise._

_His exclamation caused me to start laughing as he turned around to look up at me, getting up onto his knees._

_"Give me a break, __Kairi__."_

_"…you lazy bum—__" the__ first bit was lost, as though my memory were tampered with, "—I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here…" __I leaned forwards and then back__ on my heels, glancing around before smiling down at him again._

_"No! This huge black thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't—__ow__!"_

_I had poked him in the head with a stick lying in the sand at my feet, cutting off his strange little story._

_"Are you still dreaming?" I asked, amused, my hands on my knees as I bent over again to look into his face._

_"It wasn't a dream! Or…was it? I don't know."_

Riiing…

Riiing…

I awoke with a start, and frowned against my pillow as my alarm clock continued to go off. I didn't know, either, whether that had only been a dream or not. Had it really happened before? I just didn't know anything anymore, it seemed. Never before had I been so annoyed with my clock, and I blindly waved my hand about before finally hitting the off button and the ringing stopped at last. Reluctantly, I rolled out of bed, grumbling as I went, and the face and voice of the boy had gone from my mind again, no matter how much I struggled to bring it back.

--

Remember how I mentioned those detentions that I received for not paying attention yesterday?

"Kairi, you didn't bring anything to work on?" A rather delicate woman sitting in the desk at the front of the room addressed me, her voice soft and kind. She had honey-colored hair, which was pulled up into a lose bun at the top of her head, a pair of light blue eyes surveying me over the rims of glasses. She had a stack of paperwork piled beside her, and a red marking pen in her hand.

Mrs. Robertson is my language arts teacher, but I wasn't in class right now.

Yeah, you guessed it.

I was in detention.

"Um…no," I answered her, rather uncomfortably. I was in a very strange situation. First of all, I had never been in detention before. Call me a goody-goody, but it's true. Secondly, the others in the room were not the nicest people that I knew. For example, the girl sitting beside me had a lip piercing (that she did herself) and had a violent shade of purple hair which was molded up into spikes, and wore an expression that told me she wanted nothing more than to beat me up as soon as we were let out. But, that is _really_ beside the point.

Mrs. Robertson looked at me for a moment, before sighing. "Look, I don't even know why you're here, Kairi. I know that you're a good girl who never gets into trouble."

"Well, yesterday I was having trouble paying attention," I told her, twirling a strand of red hair around my finger. "So…"

Mrs. Robertson smiled slightly, and flicked her hand off towards the door. "Go ahead home, and don't worry about serving your other detention tomorrow, okay?"

I raised my eyebrows, gaping at her. "Are…are you serious?" I asked uncertainly, wondering if this was some kind of joke.She winked at me, nodding. "Yes, yes. Go on, I'll take care of it."

I blinked, my eyes flickering to look at the clock that hung over my teacher's head. Four o'clock…an hour before we were supposed to be let out. "Wow…thank you, Mrs. Robertson!" I said, pushing back my chair and getting to my feet. I pulled my bag over my shoulder, a broad smile crossing my face.

She just nodded, still smiling.

As I turned towards the door and headed to it I heard the unmistakable crack of knuckles behind me, causing me to hurry faster.

But anyway, while I had been sitting in detention I had—obviously—been thinking of him. I thought of what my mom had said the previous night, and later on in the evening I also mentioned the matter to my father.

"You, Riku…and another boy?" He had asked, only halfway listening to me, for he was busy with important things that mayors did.

"Yes," I said eagerly, standing in front of his desk in the study upstairs. "Do you remember his name?"

"Whose name?"

"The other boy!" I said with an edge of impatience in my voice.

"Oh, right. Well, no. I'm sorry, Kairi, but I really don't have time for this…" He frowned down at his paperwork, his pen moving as he wrote this and that.

"Dad, please!" I said desperately, and for the first time during our conversation he stopped writing and looked up at me. His face was lined with age, his expression weary with exhaustion of what must have been a long day at work.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I don't remember you playing with another boy…" He said slowly, shaking his head. "Just you and Riku."

Seeing that I wasn't going to get anywhere with the boy, I turned instead to ask about Riku. "Do you know what happened to him?" I asked.

My father thought for a moment, setting his pen down and leaning back in his office chair. "Hm…" After a few long moments of silence, he just shook his head. "No, sweetheart, I just remember one day he seemed to just…disappear."

I just nodded, and turned to leave. "Thanks, Dad." And, leaving him in complete bewilderment at my strange questions, I left to get to bed early.

_May 11—Dear Journal,_

_ I never do any of that praying stuff…or even wishful thinking, because you usually just end up disappointed. But tonight I find myself pleading and begging to the heavens above._

_I really don't know why this is so important to me, but I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm going crazy. You know whenever you're trying to think of the right words and they're on the tip of your tongue but you just can't seem to remember what you want to say? Well, I really feel like that right now, except it's in my memories. This boy seems so familiar…so__…so… Oh, I don't know, I really don't._

_…I'm frustrated._

_That's probably not obvious enough, though, huh?_

_ Kairi_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: My goodness! My first review—ever! High five! ****xD**

**Aki ****Midoshi:**** Wow, thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so far. I'm also glad that I'm pulling off the first person view well. I'm not sure why, but when I started writing the story I just felt like doing it that way instead of third person. I suppose it's because I find that I relate to ****Kairi's**** personality in a lot of ways, ****lol**

**Broken Memory:**

**Chapter III**

_May 14—Dear Journal,_

_ Finally, it's the weekend! __Yay__! Right now I'm sitting in my room to write this, considering I haven't written for the past few days…_

_Something interesting worth mentioning happened today._

_Earlier this morning __Selphie__ went to the other island with __Tidus__ and __Wakka__ to referee for their ballgame. They asked me to go with them, but I said no. I've found that I don't want to go there until I remember more__ about my lost friends__…it just wouldn't be right._

_But anyway, so she went to the island with them and only about thirty minutes after they had left I heard a knock at my door. Going downstairs I went and opened the door, and __Selphie__ was standing there, holding something in her hands. She was wearing a yellow bikini with a pair white shorts and__ green flip flops on her feet—her usual outfit when we ever went swimming together._

_"You're back already?" I asked, raising my eyebrows._

_"__Kairi__!"__ She said eagerly, "I found something cool down at the island!__ I thought that you might like it.__"_

_My eyes flickered to whatever she was holding in her hands and then back to her face, thinking that she had probably found an interesting shell or something. _

_"What is it?" I asked, tucking some of my red hair back behind my ear._

_She held out her hand and I saw that it wasn't a shell that she had been holding. It was an old dusty bottle. "Look!"_

_When I didn't say or do anything and she shook the bottle a little, so I took it from her, turning the object over my hands and examining it without much interest. "Okay…I don't get it," I said finally, looking at her strangely._

_She rolled her eyes, sighing a little, as if she just couldn't understand why I didn't see how cool the bottle was. "This was inside of it," she said, pulling an old battered piece of yellowed paper out of her shorts pocket. After unfolding it and smoothing it out, she handed it to me._

_"'Meet me ou__tside of her house tonight.__ She can see her first sunset.__'" I read from the scrap, before raising my eyes to look at her again. __I suddenly had some kind of flashback, and gripped the doorframe to steady myself._

A younger version of me was sitting in my room, which was completely unrecognizable because it had been redecorated since then. I was staring off into space, and suddenly heard the front door opening downstairs. I heard someone ask something, which was followed by the Mayor's answer.

"Can we see Kairi?" The voice I didn't recognize asked. It sounded like a kid, and I sat up a little straighter, straining my ears to listen. I crept to my door, and pulled it open slightly, sticking my head out into the hall.

"Oh, of course!" Laughed the Mayor, his voice much clearer now that I was out of my room. "You boys just wait here a moment."

Boys?

There was the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs and I hurriedly retreated back into my room, softly shutting the door as I crept back to my bed to take my original position there.

The Mayor knocked and then opened my door, smiling at me. In this memory he looked much younger, much more alive. "Kairi, there's two boys downstairs at the door for you."

I nodded shyly and hopped off of the bed again, walking past him and back into the hall, taking the steps by two in a hurry to get downstairs. Reaching the landing I skidded on the wood floor in my socks as I ran to the front hall—

_"__Kairi__?"_

_And I was pulled back into reality by __Selphie__, who was looking at me in concern. Shaking my head and clearing the memory from my mind, I gave her a weak smile. "Sorry, I just thought of something."_

_She opened her mouth to ask what, but I cut across her. "Can I borrow these?" I asked, indicating the bottle and paper scrap in my hands._

_"Um…okay—"_

_"Thanks! I'll see you later," I said, __smiling at her.__ "I'm sure that __Tidus__ and __Wakka__ are wondering where you ran off to."_

_"But—"_

_And I shut the door in her face, her alarmed expression imprinted upon my mind as I madly rushed up the same stairs of my__ memory and into my room on the landing above_

_So you may not understand what's so important about what I just told you. I'm hardly even sure myself, but my heart__ is racing as I write this, __the dusty old bottle lying beside me._

_'Meet me outside of her house tonight. She can see her first sunset.'_

_It was written a long time ago__ to __Riku__ by the boy I can't remember._

_I just know it._

_My first sunset six years ago—when I first came here—I spent it with him._

_ Kairi_


End file.
